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Local politics, the county, and the world, as viewed by Tammy Maygra Tammy’s views are her own, and do not necessarily reflect the views of Bill Eagle, his pastor, Tammy’s neighbors, Wayne Mayo, Betsy Johnson, Joe Corsiglia, President Trump, Henry Heimuller, VP Pence, Pat Robertson, Debi Corsiglia’s dog, or Claudia Eagle’s Cats. This Tammy’s Take (with the exception of this disclaimer) is not paid for or written by, or even reviewed by anyone but Tammy and she refuses to be bullied by anyone. See Standard Disclaimer.
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Beautiful but Deadly, Death Valley
Because of our long period of record high temperatures I thought it would be interesting to learn about a place where it is always extremely hot---- Death Valley. Death Valley is mostly inhabitable, and for the last two years it has had record high temperatures. Death Valley is a land of extreme temperatures, altitudes, and unusual environmental events. Because of these events and extreme occurrences it’s been the facilitator for some of the most unusual natural and past wonders this planet has ever seen. And since it’s mostly uninhabitable, evidence of these extraordinary things has remained intact much longer than it would have elsewhere where humans would have impacted the evidence.
People have left art work on rocks around the desert which date back thousands of years. What were people doing roaming around Death Valley eons ago? Or did they live there. Some of the oldest records of man can be found painted and chiseled on the rocks of Death Valley. Thanks to carbon dating, it is believed that most came from Saratoga Spring Culture that resided there between 500 and 1000 CE. Life there had to be hard and unforgiven No one knows why these people remained in such a harsh climate. Death Valley is known for its hot, subtropical, desert climate. You can typically expect long, hot summers, and short, mild winters. However, July 10, 1913 wasn't typical. That day, the temperature in Furnace Creek (an area of Death Valley) hit 134°F, the hottest temperature ever recorded on Earth at the time. The area held the record for nearly 10 years, until inhabitants of El Azizia, Libya experienced a reported high of 136.4°F in September 1922. An interesting fact is that the World Meteorological Organization determined that the Libya record was the result of human error of misreading the thermometer and the temperature was deemed invalid. So in September 2012, the record was officially returned to Death Valley. Even with the Valleys extreme temperatures it hosts over 1,000 different types of plants of diverse plant life. Some plants take up residence on the valley floor, and have adapted to the insufficient amount of precipitation by growing extremely long roots. These roots either shoot down up to 100 feet to seize moisture from the lower soil areas, or spread wide to collect any amount of moisture they can from the atmosphere. They also have special leaves that slow down evaporation, allowing them to hold onto moisture as long as possible. There’s a deep, water-filled crater in Death Valley National Park called Devil’s Hole. It’s home to the endangered Devil’s Hole Pupfish, a species that may have been residing there for up to 20,000 years. It's not the crater's only remarkable feature. The water in the hole reacts to seismic activity around the world. If there’s a giant earthquake in Japan, chances are it will be making some waves in Devil’s Hole. With an average annual rainfall of just two inches, Death Valley is not known for its floral displays. But this year was the exception. While the rest of the country has been enduring heavy rains and strangely warm winter days due to El Niño, the Valley’s had heavy rainfall in the fall and then more moderate weather. These were perfect conditions--- and allowed for an exceptionally unusual event to occur on the valley floor, a sudden flood of blooming flowers. Flowers do occasionally bloom all over Death Valley, but this concentrated bloom only happens about once every decade. In 1849, a party of pioneers who were searching for gold out west lost their way in Death Valley and were certain they would perish. But as far as history can account, only one member of their party actually died. They were rescued by two young men, but were forever troubled by their journey through the desolate wasteland. Some say, as they left the area, one of the surviving travelers stated, Goodbye, Death Valley. And the area would take on that menacing name. Even though the Valley was harsh and unforgiving it was on many gold seekers’ routes out west. During the mid to late 19th century, small towns sprung up throughout the area, as more and more people began using the Valley as a sort of rest stop. This became more apparent when thousands of gold, silver, copper, and borax mines started appearing out west. But the primitive knowhow and scarcity of water made mining challenging. When the gold rush started to run out, these no -where towns began to close up shop. There are a few of the towns left today which have withstood the harsh elements. An interesting occurrence and quite surprising to be found in Death Valley is a mansion. Back in the day- William E. Scott or Scotty, as he was commonly known, convinced a Chicago millionaire named Albert Mussey Johnson to invest in property in Death Valley. Scotty told Johnson there was plenty of gold to be had in a local mine, but when that turned out to be false, the two men struck up an unlikely friendship. In 1922, they began building a house on Johnson’s 1500 acres in the Grapevine Valley region of Death Valley. Because the land was located below a healthy spring, the partners used the flowing water to power the house. They had a Pelton wheel that powered a generator, which took care of all the house’s electrical needs. The Valley’s Badwater Basin is a staggering 282 feet below sea level. It’s less than 100 miles from Mount Whitney, which happens to be the highest point in the contiguous United States. There is a low level of “bad water” (where the site gets it name) in the basin from a nearby spring that is undrinkable, but it attracts a good deal of flora and fauna. The past 100 years, visitors have noticed that the rocks in Death Valley’s Racetrack Playa would leave trails behind them in the sand in varying patterns. Many different theories developed to try and explain the apparent movement, from changing magnetic fields to slippery algae. But after several years of study two scientists have figured out what makes the stones move, because they seen it happen They pinpointed the movement down to what happens when the Valley floor freezes over, then cracks and melts suddenly when the sun comes up. The broken ice is then blown across the surface of the playa by winds, and pushes the rocks enough to get them moving, and the slippery surface allows them to go quite the distance—sometimes up to the length of two football fields. But since they did not see the 700 pound boulder move they are continuing their work to discover how it had moved. The intrigue surrounding Death Valley remains today as people travel to experience this harsh but sometimes beautiful valley.
Tammy
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